Great Lakes Expands Distribution to Illinois

CLEVELAND, OH – Great Lakes Brewing Company (GLBC), Ohio’s most celebrated craft brewer of award-winning lagers and ales, announces its plan to enter the Central Illinois market with Marketplace Selections on October 1, 2012. GLBC’s products are currently available in Chicago. The new Central Illinois territory will expand GLBC’s footprint into areas like Bloomington, Champaign, and Peoria, serving the company’s strategic growth plans.Customers can expect to see GLBC’s year-round family of beers in package and draft, as well as GLBC’s “Taster’s Pack” (a sampler 12-pack).

The new market rollout will involve multiple customer appreciation events, meet-and-greets, tastings, and giveaways throughout the area. GLBC co-owner Pat Conway says of the expansion, “Many breweries choose a strategy of being a mile wide and an inch deep. We prefer to penetrate deeper into existing markets. Expanding our existing Illinois territory is a logical extension of that idea.”

About:

GLBC currently serves 13 states and Washington DC. Founded in 1988 by brothers Pat and Dan Conway as the first craft brewery in the state of Ohio, GLBC is nationally known for its exceptional family of beers including Dortmunder Gold Lager, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Burning River Pale Ale, Commodore Perry India Pale Ale and Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. Visit www.greatlakesbrewing.com/centralillinois and follow @GLBCinIL on Twitter for exclusive updates and event announcements.